2017-10

What is “logical cooking”?

Today I’d like to share a story about “logical cooking” with you.
I found that you can significantly reduce cooking time and make delicious food by using advanced electrical cooking appliances.
One day I went to my friend H’s house. She has many kinds of cooking appliances and she is very good at using them.

Let’s start cooking!

At the begging, she used the “Panasonic Homebakery” to make walnut bread since it needed about 3 hours to bake. The machine was quite quiet when the dough was being kneaded.

Then she set a chunk of pork meat in the “Zojirushi Atsuryoku IH Nabe” and added some seasoning to make a braised pork. It took about 1 hour.

Next we made “Nikujaga”(Japanese potato with meat) with “SHARP HEALSIO HOTCOOK”, which can stir food when cooking them. We just cut some potatoes, an onion and a half of carrot and put some meat into the machine. It took about 40 min.

All of the 3 dishes were cooked automatically with electrical cooking appliances. We just prepared the ingredients and pressed the buttons.
When we were waiting for the food we made Carrot rapees which is just grated carrot. She let me use a special slicer. It was faster than using a knife.
We also drunk coffee made with the Nespresso coffee machine. It was so tasty and convenient.

Food was ready

Meanwhile, food was ready. The pork meat was tender and very delicious. Nikujaga’s potatoes had nice color and tasted wonderful! Both ingredient soaked in the very flavor well in only 1 hour.
The bread was soft, smelled great and yummy!

↑Ingredient soaked very well in only 1 hour

↑Carrot rapees and walnut bread

Just push the button

Finally I found that we can rely on electrical cooking appliances and don’t have to stand in front of the stove for a long time. Because these appliances can work hard for us with just the push of a button and the food was so delicious.

My friend H has a lot of cooking tools in a big kitchen. She knows these products very well and knows when to use them at the right way. Besides, it seemed that she enjoyed using them.
Thank you H for inviting me to your house and showing your special tools.

Lemon trees

I bought a lemon tree on last Sunday.
My town, Senboku area, has a project to revitalize the local community through lemon trees. The project aims to make Semboku area a “lemon town.”
The lemons are called “Semboku lemon” and are harvested in Senboku area with no chemical pesticide.

A number plate

I also bought a number plate for lemon tree. My tree number was #355.
There is a facebook group for members who bought the number plates. The members can ask anything about lemon trees and teach each other in the group.

I hope Lemon is going to yield fruits someday.

I am a beginner when it comes to gardening. I’ve never raised a tree in my life. I’m worried weather I can grow my lemon tree.
I named the tree “Lemon”, since I didn’t know its gender.
Although, Lemon is a potted tree in our small balcony, I hope Lemon is going to grow very well and yield fruits someday.

I found a song “LEMON TREE” by Fools Garden
Here is the song (YouTube)

Have you heard of a craft known as “batten lace”?

I got a beautiful parasol from my father-in-law last month. It is a handmade parasol with an elaborated lace design.
Have you heard of a craft known as “batten lace”?
Batten lace is a lace craft which uses ribbon tapes and stitch them together. In around 1890, its production was started in Joetsu city, Niigata. The batten lace industry flourished in the 1900s and employed many craftswomen. Their products were exported to Europe. However, due to WW1 and other reasons, the industry gradually declined and many factories were closed down.
Luckily, the technique of batten lace survived by many craftsmen till today.

Only one batten lace shop in Japan

In Japan, there is only one batten lace shop, “Yoshida battenlace” which can make laces, design and produce various goods.
My husband’s home town is Joetsu city, the same city as the batten lace shop.
I went to the shop with my mother-in-law in May. That time only a craftswoman was there. I was worried about whether she has a successor for her shop.
When we got home, we talked to my father-in-law about the beautiful parasols at the shop.

A few months later, he remembered that we talked about it and he bought a parasol for my mother-in-law and myself. I was so surprised, because I didn’t expect it at all.
Thank you very much!! You are so kind. This will be my treasure for the rest of my life.

A tea shop in Kitahama

I met my friend who lives in Tokyo and we haven’t seen each other for more than 10 years.
Then, for our lunch, I made a reservation to try the “afternoon tea set” at Kitahama retro. Kitahama retro is a famous tea shop in Kitahama, Osaka. It is protected by the government as a registered tangible cultural properties.

Nice conversation while enjoying a good afternoon tea set

The afternoon tea set included a 3 tier cake stand. The bottom tier had cucumber and ham sandwiches, the middle tier had scones and top tier had a slice of cake. One drink was also included in the set. I ordered a cup of blend tea with mixed herbs.
Since I had a sore throat that day, I was worried if I would cough when I drank the hot tea. In fact, the tea was so good that it felt very smooth and gentle in my mouth. I thought the shop was using high quality ingredients.

My friend hadn’t changed at all, and was just as elegant as before. We enjoyed talking about our memories (10 years ago) and tasting the afternoon tea.